Monday morning – a cloudy one, at that. Most of the snow has melted because of a combination of warmer temperatures and rain. That’s good and bad. Good because the young deer can eat our grass on the front lawn again. They like to feed there during the winter. Bad because it looks gray and blah out there again. The snow was pretty!
I know, be careful what you wish for, Claudia!
More artwork, this time we’re back in the living room.
You know all about our vintage lithograph on the left. We purchased it on our first Paris trip and finally had it framed this year. We are completely besotted by it. It’s an ad for a coffee that was made by monks and this particular illustrator loved to use children in his work. It’s delightful, it makes us smile, it’s a tangible memory of Paris, it’s in French…what more could we want?
Next to it, one of my two vintage Maxfield Parrish prints. These are not modern reproductions, they’re vintage prints that were sold soon after Parrish painted them for publication. I have loved his work for years, dreamed of owning one of his creations, and it was only in the past 8 years or so that I was able to acquire two. This was the second of the two. It’s called Dinky Bird and it was part of a commissioned set of illustrations for a volume of Eugene Field’s poems. The original oil painting was purchased by multimillionaire Henry Russell Sage, was put in storage and disappeared for years until one of his grandchildren discovered it. It was painted in 1904.
I love the colors in this one. Parrish’s blues were rich and unlike those of any other artist.
My first Parrish, found at a local antique store and part of the collection of a longtime Parrish lover, is next.
Pierrot’s Serenade, one of Parrish’s illustrations for The Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyrics.
Trying to capture the golds in this print and the blues in the other print is impossible via the camera. They are gorgeous. The original was painted in 1908.
It’s funny. I wanted some of Parrish’s work for so long. Now that I have these two, I don’t feel the need to collect any more.
Well, let me correct that. If I found a vintage print of The Lantern Bearers, my favorite Parrish, I’d snap it up in a second. It is simply gorgeous. So far, I have never seen one.
Okay. Business: The winner of a copy of The Overstory is Leanne Shawler. Leanne, I’m going to send an email your way, but if you see this in the meantime, send me your mailing address and I’ll pass it on to Barbara. Congratulations!
Happy Monday.
